Thermaltake System Cases: 5 Models Reviewed. Page 9

Thermaltake is one of the oldest case makers, who is still highly active in the market. The company is offering products for every budget; from entry-level up to the most advanced and sophisticated. Today we are going to talk about the products from different price categories: affordable Commander MS-I, MS-II and MS-III, mainstream Level 10 GTS and a high-end Armor Revo.

It is responsible for powering the side-panel fan. It’s a handy solution that protects the fan’s connector or cable against any damage when the user takes the side panel off.

By the way, we’ve seen this type of side fan connection in Thermaltake’s more affordable Element G.

The side panel itself is very easy to close.

The disk bays are compatible with both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch devices.

But, unlike the disk bays of the mentioned computer case, the Armor Revo’s are cooled properly. The bottom of each bay is exposed while the sides only cover about half the height of a 3.5-inch drive.

The quick fasteners of 5.25-inch devices in the open bays are somewhat more efficient and much more reliable than those of the above-discussed products.

If you want to fasten your device as tight as you can, you may use screws from both sides of it. You don't even need to remove the quick fasteners for that.

The PSU can be fixed with a metallic plate located on the bottom of the case.

The dedicated cable compartment is deep. The side panel can be easily closed above the heap of cables.

The CPU cooler cutout is the largest among the computer cases we’ve discussed today. It is surely going to be large enough irrespective of the exact position of the mainboard’s CPU socket.

The opening for a CPU power cable is large but the cable itself may get stuck in the blades of the top fan.

It is very easy to assemble a PC configuration in the Armor Revo except for the above-mentioned opening for a CPU power cable.

Its out-of-box ventilation is the most advanced among the products included into this review. It consists of three 200mm fans (an exhaust one on the roof, and intake ones on the front and side panels) and one exhaust 140mm fan on the back panel. The front and top fans have blue highlighting which can be disabled.

The 200mm fans are connected into a single system whose speed and highlighting is regulated by the front-panel buttons. In the Low mode the 200mm fans were rotating at 580 to 640 RPM. Their High speed was 770 to 840 RPM, depending on the particular fan.

Connected to the mainboard in Silent mode, the 140mm fan was working at 800 RPM.

The Armor Revo is silent at the low speed of its fans, but the latter become audible at high speeds. The fans do not remember the last position of the speed controller you used and always start up at the low speed.

The default ventilation system is advanced enough, but it can be enhanced further by installing an additional 120mm fan on the bottom of the chassis and a 140mm fan at the top. You can also put a radiator of a liquid cooling system at the top, instead of fans.

The assembled Armor Revo looks imposing, but the silvery wings don’t seem to match the whiteness of the body well enough. The black version of this product, in which the wings are the color of the body, is perhaps more harmonic.

Highs:

Nice exterior design

Easy to assemble

Good protection against dust

Efficient out-of-box ventilation

Dock station for 2.5- and 3.5-inch drives

USB 3.0.

Lows:

The color of the decorative wings doesn’t match the body in the white version of the product